CLEVELAND, Ohio — No one taking a shower likes a dramatic shift in water temperature, hot or cold.

Yet for fish in the Cuyahoga River trying to make their way to and from Lake Erie, that's just what swimming through the ship channel downtown is like.

"If fish are trying to migrate to the lake to spawn, they really have to work at passing through this ship channel," said Jane Goodman, the executive director of the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization, a group focused on restoring the river and its watershed.

ODOT is cutting slats and will install vegetation in the sheet pile walls near the abutments for the new Inner Belt Bridge. The vegetation will provide a spot for fish to rest and seek protection from predators while traveling to and from the lake, said Amanda Lee, a spokesperson for ODOT. The same will be done when a planned second bridge is constructed, Lee said.

It's not a new idea. Pockets of vegetation have been installed on bulkheads along the river for the past few years to help fish make it through the ship channel.

"It's a little rest stop, a place to get some oxygen, for these fish that are trying to live in really difficult circumstances," Goodman said.

A recent EPA report said more than half of the rivers and streams in the U.S. are in poor biological condition.

Goodman said most of the Cuyahoga River is now in good biological shape, but the ship channel remains a challenge because of lack of vegetation, sewer overflows and runoff from bridges and roads.

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